To understand today’s SBC, listen to history

Across America this week, Baptist women are carrying a familiar weight. Some are pastors who have faithfully answered the call of God, only to watch the Southern Baptist Convention debate whether God possibly could have called them. Some are seminary...

Opinion Braxton Wade

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Reading the Bible through the lens of poverty affects interpretation

(ABP) — One's socioeconomic status can influence how people read and interpret the Bible — and often how they will act on it, according to some Christian leaders. {youtube}451MJGDsxUE{/youtube} Miguel De La Torre, associate professor of social ethics at the…

Missiologist: Christians in developing world interpret Bible differently

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Christians in the developing nations read Scripture differently than their brothers and sister in the affluent West, according to missiologist Caleb Oladipo. Caleb Oladipo “The way we read the Scriptures in the Western world particularly is…

Black Baptist pastor asks SBC to repent of racism

ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention has not kept a promise made in 1995 to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone…

Black Baptist pastor asks SBC to repent of racism

ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention has not kept a promise made in 1995 to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." Dwight McKissic Dwight McKissic, pastor…

Former Baptist pastor gets 10 years for molestation

Editor's note: This story was updated April 10 to correct an error in the 12th paragraph. FRANKLIN, Ind. (ABP) — A former Southern Baptist pastor in central Indiana has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting a 15-year-old…

Post-Easter, post-bunny reflections

By Amy Butler It’s several days after Easter, but I still can feel the wake of Holy Week rocking my life. As the storm gradually subsides and I try to get myself upright in the aftermath of the most important…

U.S. teens’ pocket change gives South African village access to clean water

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — About 300 families in a South African village soon will have access to clean water, thanks to pocket change collected last year by hundreds of Virginia Baptist youths. A mission team from Bonsack Baptist Church in…

Black Baptist pastor asks Southern Baptist Convention to repent of racism

ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention has not kept a promise made in 1995 to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone…

South Africans get access to clean water, thanks to teens’ pocket change

RICHMOND, Va. — About 300 families in a northeastern South African village soon will have access to clean water, thanks to pocket change collected last year by hundreds of Virginia Baptist youths. On April 7, work crews in Ngwenani, about…

Youth at Suffolk church spend weekend preparing for Easter ministries

Youth fill Easter eggs for their church's annual egg hunt. SUFFOLK, Va. — The weekend of March 12-14 was a busy one for the youth at Holland Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va., as they prepared for a variety of ministry…

China’s religious head says 4 million house churches must register

HONG KONG (RNS/ENI) — The Chinese government’s new head of religious affairs has downplayed the role of house churches during his first official visit to Hong Kong, saying they must be registered with the government for their own protection. Wang…

Abuse scandal imperils pope’s drive to reclaim Europe’s Christian heritage

PARIS (RNS) — Days after being elected pope in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI referred to one of Europe’s patron saints, Benedict of Norcia, as he explained his choice of papal name to thousands of pilgrims massed in St. Peter’s Square….